Heinz bows to ‘will of the people’ and sticks with Salad Cream

Heinz provoked outrage in June when it announced it was considering changing the condiment’s name to Sandwich Cream.

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The current Heinz Salad Cream bottle and its now rejected Sandwich Cream alternative (Kraft Heinz/PA)

Food giant Heinz has bowed to the “will of the people” and decided against changing the name of its Salad Cream to Sandwich Cream.

Fans of the condiment made their outrage known in June when parent company Kraft Heinz announced that it was considering a name change for the first time in 104 years.

Heinz said research had found that just 14% of consumers actually used the cream on salads, with most considering it to be an alternative to mayonnaise and pairing it with tuna, ham or cheese in sandwiches.

However a survey carried out by the company found that 87% of consumers wanted the product to remain as Salad Cream, rejecting other potential names such as Fish Finger Sauce, Chip Sauce and Roast Potato Sauce.

No to sandwich cream. Who is Philistine enough to put salad cream on a sandwich? Salads and mashed up egg. That’s what it’s for.

Joel Hughes, senior brand manager at Heinz, said: “From TV debates to conversations around the dinner table, it seems everyone has a real fondness for not only the iconic, zingy flavour of Heinz Salad Cream, but the name too.

“Thousands of you shared your thoughts and suggested new ideas, all of which were considered, but it became clear that the British public wanted to keep Heinz Salad Cream, and any other name just wouldn’t do.

“We can’t ignore the will of the people, so Heinz Salad Cream is here to stay.”

Launched in 1914, Salad Cream was the UK’s fifth biggest-selling table sauce last year, with value sales of £28.8 million, although that was a 5.4% decline on 2016, according to Nielsen.